Atiq Ahmed who faces over 40 criminal cases including that of murder. According to sources, Akhilesh had sent a list of candidates to Mulayam Singh which excluded the names of Atiq Ahmad, Sigbatullah Ansari, Gayatri Prasad Prajapati and sacked minister Narad Rai.

However, giving a snub to his Chief Minister and his son Mulayam SIngh included the names of all these leaders.

Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed that there is no rift within the party.

Ending speculation of a tie-up with Congress and RLD, he also ruled out any alliance with any political party. He made it clear that his party would contest elections on all 403 seats.

Notably, Akhilesh had publicly made it clear that he was not averse to an alliance with Congress. By all indications, the crisis within Samajwadi Party, that has already spilled on to the public realm in past, is not yet over.

Power struggle continues within family

— List has no mention of names of many pro-Akhilesh ministers and MLAs